The death toll from a fire that ripped through a hotel at a popular ski resort in northwest Turkiye on Tuesday has risen to 66, officials said, expressing great “sorrow” over the tragedy.
Witnesses said desperate guests had tried to escape using ropes, footage showed sheets hanging from windows and media reports suggested some had died after trying to jump to safety.
“Our pain is great,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters in the resort of Kartalkaya, about 170 kilometers northwest of the capital, Ankara.
He added that “66 citizens lost their lives and another 51 were injured,” while authorities said the fire had already been contained.
The fire started at 3:27 a.m. (0027 GMT) at the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel, which has wood cladding, Yerlikaya said.
Some 238 guests were registered at the hotel, the minister added. It was peak time during a two-week school holiday.
Turkish authorities detained four suspects, including the hotel owner, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc reported in X.
The minister had previously announced that six prosecutors had been assigned to investigate the fire.
Private speaker ntv He said the dead included three people who had jumped from the hotel windows.
The fire is believed to have started in the restaurant and spread quickly, although it was not immediately clear what caused it.
Part of the structure overlooks a cliff, making it difficult for firefighters to combat the fire.
‘I heard screams’
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan interrupted a speech to the congress of his ruling AKP party in Ankara, saying: “Our pain is great, our anguish is great.”
He said administrative and judicial investigations have been launched into the cause of the fire.
“All necessary measures will be taken to shed light on all aspects of the incident and hold those responsible to account,” he promised.
Television images showed huge plumes of smoke rising into the sky with a snow-capped mountain behind the hotel.
“I heard screams around midnight, [hotel] Residents were screaming for help,” said Baris Salgur, who works at a nearby hotel. ntv television.
“They asked for a blanket, saying they were going to jump. We did what we could, we brought rope, pillows, we brought a sofa. “Some people jumped down once the flames got close to them.”
‘No security’
Images showed the hotel’s shattered lobby with shards of glass on the floor, the reception desk and wooden furniture inside charred black.
Authorities warned that the building could collapse.
A survivor who managed to escape the flames told local media that no alarms sounded at the hotel when the fire started and complained of a lack of safety measures, including fire escapes or smoke detectors.
Tourism Minister Nuri Ersoy said the hotel had two fire escapes.
“The hotel has a fire safety certificate issued by the fire department… The fire department must conduct regular inspections,” he said.
Footage showed sheets hanging from the hotel’s windows, indicating that some people had tried to use them to escape the fire.
The evacuees were relocated to nearby hotels.
